On 18/07/2020 21:36, Stefan Monnier wrote:
often for the price of a new battery you are already a large part of the way towards just getting a newer system (a raspberry pi might work for some people and be much better instead).New batteries for a Dell Vostro 1520 seem to run around $30 (according to a quick search for "battery dell vostro 1520"). If the machine is used as a kind of server then a small SBC (like an EspressoBin, or <foo> Pi) might indeed be a good option, but a new battery is not a large investment. And while old, a Core 2 Duo is still pretty competitive against those small boxes. Stefan "doing most of his work on a Thinkpad T61"
So the new battery came, precharged to 75%. Left the power in for 30 minutes, stayed at 75%. Took the power out, dropped to 72% pretty quickly. Put the power back in and it stays at 72%. So the motherboard is reading the battery power ok but not charging it, although it thinks it is, and I have a motherboard fault.
I do use it as a laptop not a server, mainly for browsing and text editing, and at home cos its too heavy to lug around. I can carry on using it like that just plugged into the adaptor, although the power plug is a bit loose and tends to fall out unexpectedly which may well eventually leave me with a corrupted hard drive. I either invest in some sticky tape to hold it in place or try to peer at the mother board and hope I find a popped capacitor or something I have a hope of fixing. Sticky tape it is then.
Graham